Patient safety doesn’t improve through punishment, vigilance posters, or telling people to “be more careful.” It improves when leaders design safer systems, support speaking up, and focus on learning instead of blame. This archive brings together blog posts, podcasts, and reflections on patient safety through a Lean lens—exploring medical errors, near misses, psychological safety, leadership behaviors, and how healthcare organizations can reduce harm by fixing systems rather than blaming individuals.
I blogged recently about a radio ad from the Detroit Medical Center trumpeting their technology and patient safety efforts. In my further travels, I saw this billboard (from a hospital that’s a competitor of a client… and no, I won’t…
Thanks to XM Radio, I was able to listen to Sunday’s Detroit Red Wings playoff game and the WJR radio broadcast from Detroit (the “great voice of the Great Lakes”). I heard a commercial a few times that I managed…
So I’m finally watching the DVR-ed episode from March 10, 2009, that gave widespread exposure to the issue of medical mistakes. Oprah began the show by citing the statistic that errors cause more deaths than “breast cancer, AIDS, and car…
I’m still experimenting with video podcasting, after my first attempt with Jamie Finchbaugh. LeanBlog Video Podcast #2 is content you may have seen and heard before — the video from Kevin Frieswick and MetroWest Medical Center with the device for…
I’ve struck a chord with a few nurses with this post from late last year: Why Do Hospitals Have to Rely on Vigilant Patients and Families? I asked: I’ve written before about my questions of why so many hospitals abdicate…
LeanBlog Podcast #65 is a discussion with Kevin Frieswick, a Lean Process Manager, with MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham, MA. I found Kevin earlier this year when I discovered their YouTube video about innovations at MWMC, which included a unique…
Hulu – ER: Old Times – Watch the full episode now. Thanks to Bryan to bringing this episode of ER to my attention. I don’t normally watch it, but my wife always DVRs it, so I was able to watch…
TL;DR: “Toyota’s ‘stop the line’ concept is being adapted for healthcare — empowering any staff member to pause a procedure when something seems wrong, before it becomes a harm event. A surgical tech suspects the wrong patient has been brought…
Dennis Quaid Takes Oprah To Hospital That OD’d His Babies This might be the first time I’m DVR-ing the Oprah show. Tomorrow, actor Dennis Quaid will talk about the medical errors that nearly killed his twin babies. For the first…
Autographed Norman Bodek Collection Book & CDs – eBay (item 160304046494 end time Dec-19-08 17:45:25 PST) Norman Bodek has graciously collaborated with me on this exciting project. I am auctioning off a custom audio CD set (4 CDs) of Norman’s…
BBC NEWS | Health | Breathing life into resuscitation Thanks to my old boss, Mike, for sending this my way. Here’s an article (with pictures, better photos here) from the BBC about a revolutionary new design for hospital “crash carts”…
I wanted to remind you about an online event I’m presenting for Thursday afternoon and tell you about a new event (local to Dallas) that I’m attending Thursday night. THE DARK REPORT presents: How To Find And Eliminate All The…
